April 9, 1989: Soviet Crackdown In Tbilisi

April 07, 2014 08:00 GMT

In the spring of 1989, Georgians took to the streets to demand independence from the Soviet Union. At the peak of the demonstrations, many thousands of people -- some of them on hunger strike -- gathered in central Tbilisi. On April 9, Soviet Interior Ministry troops moved in to crush the peaceful protests, killing at least 20 people and leaving hundreds injured or poisoned by gas. The crackdown became one of the turning points in the final years of the Soviet Union. (13 PHOTOS)

1Months before the peak of the protests, young people were already staging hunger strikes to demand independence for Georgia. Here, a banner states "Day 5 of the hunger strike" in front of the Georgian parliament building on November 28, 1988.

2By April, the protest movement had swelled. Here, pro-independence demonstrators sit on Rustaveli Avenue in Tbilisi on April 8, 1989. A small faction protesting against separatism in the Georgian Black Sea region of Abkhazia was also present.

5Soviet tanks stand in front of the Georgian government building after troops violently broke up the pro-independence protests.

9Soviet troops stand guard on Tbilisi's Rustaveli Avenue on April 11.

10Soviet tanks flank a main thoroughfare in Tbilisi on April 11.

11People gather near the Georgian government building on April 12 in the aftermath of the violence.

12Thousands gather on April 16, 1989, for the funeral of those who died during the crackdown.